Over 2,000 deer shot in Kerry during 2017

45 RED DEER CULLED IN KILLARNEY NATIONAL PARK ‘IN BEST INTEREST OF THE HERD’

THE Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has told The Kerryman that more than 2,000 deer were shot in Kerry by licensed hunters during the 2016/17 hunting season, with 45 red deer culled in Killarney National Park by National Park and Wildlife Service (NPWS) staff between January and March of last year.

The Department explained that the cull of 34 female and 11 male deer took place following a survey and report on the park’s deer population in late 2016.

According to a spokesperson, a cull was necessary to protect the ecology of the park, with particular focus on lowland herds. The current population of Red deer in the park is about 700, and another cull is expected in 2018 pending an upcoming submission to Minister Josepha Madigan.

“There is a significant challenge in attempting to balance the demands of agriculture, forestry and conservation with the need to ensure that deer populations occupying the same land resources are managed at sustainable levels, and in a responsible and ethical manner,” a Department spokesperson told The Kerryman. “Where deer species are increasing in range and numbers, depending on the annual count and instances of damage caused by deer to habitats - especially woodland - culls need to be carried out”.

“Deer have the potential to impact significantly on woodlands, including the iconic yew, oak and also wet woodlands within the Park (e.g. by bark stripping of mature trees and preventing regeneration).

“Culls … are in the best interest of the deer herds and of the National Park. They are conducted in accordance with best husbandry practice and in full conformity with scientific and agricultural guidelines.”

Landowners, if in possession of a licence from the Department, are responsible for control of deer on private property such as the Blasket Islands, and deer can be hunted, depending on sex and species, during a five-month period between September through to the following February.

The NPWS told The Kerryman that 2,089 deer were legally shot during the 201617 season. The vast majority (almost 95 per cent) of those killed were Sika.

“Some 260 deer hunting licences were issued to individuals with Kerry addresses during the 2016/17 season, with a further 34 licences issued to overseas individuals who indicated that they were hunting deer in Kerry,” a Department spokesperson told The Kerryman.

“Most licensed deer hunters are recreational hunters and so the deer would be used for personal consumption. In other cases deer are sold on for commercial purposes to wildlife dealers.

“The Department does not have information as to the final destination of deer carcases.”

45 red deer were culled in Killarney National park last year.